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Porter melic, Porter's melic, Porter's melicgrass

little melic, little oniongrass, small melic grass, small onion grass

Habit Plants not or loosely cespitose, shortly rhizomatous. Plants cespitose, not rhizomatous.
Culms

55-100 cm, not forming corms;

internodes smooth, basal internodes not thickened.

10-60 cm, forming corms;

internodes smooth or scabridulous.

Sheaths

often scabrous on the keels, otherwise smooth;

ligules 1-7 mm;

blades 2-5 mm wide, both surfaces glabrous, scabridulous.

scabridulous to scabrous;

ligules 0.5-2.6 mm;

blades 1.2-5 mm wide, sometimes pilose on both surfaces.

Panicles

13-25 cm;

branches 1-9 cm, straight and appressed or flexible and ascending to strongly divergent, with 1-12 spikelets;

pedicels sharply bent below the spikelets;

disarticulation below the glumes.

4.5-18 cm;

branches 0.8-4 cm, appressed to ascending, with 1-5 spikelets;

pedicels straight.

Spikelets

8-16 mm long, 1.5-5 mm wide, parallel-sided when mature, with 2-5 bisexual florets;

rachilla internodes 1.9-2.1 mm.

4-17 mm, with 2-5 bisexual florets;

rachilla internodes 2.1-2.3 mm, swollen when fresh, wrinkled when dry;

disarticulation above the glumes.

Glumes

green, pale, or purplish-tinged;

lower glumes 3.5-6 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, 3-5-veined;

upper glumes 5-8 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, 5-veined;

lemmas 6-10 mm, glabrous, chartaceous on the distal 1/3, 5-11-veined, veins conspicuous, apices rounded to acute, unawned;

paleas about 2/3 the length of the lemmas;

anthers 1-2.5 mm;

rudiments 1.8-5 mm, acute to acuminate, resembling the bisexual florets.

Lower glumes

3-5 mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm wide, 1-3-veined;

upper glumes 3.5-7 mm long, 2.5-3.5 mm wide, 5-veined;

lemmas 4-7 mm, glabrous or scabrous, 4-11-veined, veins inconspicuous, apices rounded to acute, unawned;

paleas almost as long as the lemmas;

anthers 3, 1-2 mm;

rudiments 1.5-3.5 mm, tapering, resembling the bisexual florets.

2n

= 18.

=18.

Melica porteri

Melica fugax

Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; KS; NM; TX; UT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; ID; NV; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Melica porteri grows on rocky slopes and in open woods, often near streams. It grows from Colorado and Arizona to central Texas and northern Mexico. Living plants are sometimes confused with Bouteloua curtipendula; the similarity is superficial.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Melica fugax grows at elevations to 2200 m on dry, open flats, hillsides, and woods, from British Columbia to California and east to Idaho and Nevada. It is usually found on soils of volcanic origin, and rarely below 1300 m. Melica fugax is often confused with M. bulbosa, but its rachilla internodes are unmistakable and unique among the species in the Flora region, being swollen when fresh and wrinkled when dry. One specimen, C.L. Hitchcock 15521 [WTU 114265] from Elmore County, Idaho, appears to be a hybrid. It has shrunken caryopses and combines the rachilla of M. fugax with the lemma pubescence, size, and overall appearance of M. subulata, but lacks corms.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Panicle branches flexible, ascending to strongly divergent; glumes purplish-tinged
var. laxa
1. Panicle branches straight, appressed; glumes green or pale
var. porteri
Source FNA vol. 24, p. 98. FNA vol. 24, p. 97.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Meliceae > Melica Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Meliceae > Melica
Sibling taxa
M. altissima, M. aristata, M. bulbosa, M. californica, M. ciliata, M. frutescens, M. fugax, M. geyeri, M. harfordii, M. imperfecta, M. montezumae, M. mutica, M. nitens, M. smithii, M. spectabilis, M. stricta, M. subulata, M. torreyana
M. altissima, M. aristata, M. bulbosa, M. californica, M. ciliata, M. frutescens, M. geyeri, M. harfordii, M. imperfecta, M. montezumae, M. mutica, M. nitens, M. porteri, M. smithii, M. spectabilis, M. stricta, M. subulata, M. torreyana
Subordinate taxa
M. porteri var. laxa, M. porteri var. porteri
Name authority Scribn. Bol.
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